Base Support

ABSTRACT

A support for supporting an object on a surface, the support comprising a base, the base adapted to be attached with or extend from the object. The base has a cavity extending therein, the cavity having a key portion. The key portion is adapted to engage with a foot inserted into the cavity.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/500,598, filed on Apr. 5, 2012 as the U.S. national phase ofInternational Application No. PCT/AU2010/001738, filed Dec. 23, 2010,claiming priority to Australian Application No. 2009906272, filed Dec.24, 2009, all of which are incorporated by reference herein in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure broadly relates to a support for supporting anobject on a surface. The support is described specifically forsupporting an object or an item of furniture such as a table on asurface such as a floor and it is also described in conjunction with asupport utilizing feet comprising pistons and cylinders in fluidcommunication with one another to provide variable support. However, itwill be understood that this support is advantageous in supporting anyobject on a surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Structures such as tables, ladders and tripods have legs for positioningon a surface. These legs often feature feet to contact the surface. Feetwhich are independent of the structure can be composed of a distinctmaterial from the legs to allow for different qualities of the feetwithout changing the material of the legs. For example, feet can bedesigned for limiting noise production by utilising a more malleable orelastic material than that of the legs, limiting damage to the surfaceby utilising a more malleable or elastic material than that of the legs,increasing durability or flexibility of the feet by utilising a strongermaterial than that of the legs and allowing for replacement of the feetwhen worn without replacing the entire leg structure.

Pistons have been utilised to stabilise structures such as ladders,tripods and tables. Generally one piston is associated with each leg ofthe structure. The pistons are in fluid communication. Thus the pistonscan be utilised to together adjust the position of individual supportlegs. When the position of the structure is considered stable thepistons are manually isolated so no further adjustment occurs.

A foot can be utilised in place of the piston, attached with orextending from the piston or merely as a stationary extension from theleg. The foot requires a connection between the foot and the leg of thetable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect, disclosed is a support for supporting an object on asurface, the support comprising a base, the base adapted to be attachedwith or extend from the object. The base has a cavity extending therein,the cavity having a key portion. The key portion is adapted to engagewith a foot inserted into the cavity.

In one form the support further comprises a foot, at least a portion ofthe foot being adapted to be inserted into the keyed portion of thecavity. The support typically extends from a plurality of legs orextensions from an object or furniture such as a table. The supportallows a variety of feet to be positioned and attached with the table orother object. For example, a stationary foot can be positioned withinthe keyed portion or alternatively a foot which comprises a pistonportion or a cylinder portion of a support structure comprising apiston, a cylinder in which the piston is moveable, wherein the pistonand the cylinder are arranged so that a loading associated with thestructure affects an adjustment of the support element.

In one form, the key portion of the cavity comprises an inner surface ofthe cavity having a keyed profile.

In one form the support comprises a support element having a piston andcylinder arranged so that a loading associated with the structureeffects an adjustment of the support element, and wherein an increase inhydraulic pressure within the cylinder, effected by the loadingassociated with the structure, activates a braking means.

In one form the piston is removable from the support and can be replacedwith a stationary cap not associated with the piston.

In one form, the foot has an outer surface, at least a portion of whichhas a profile which is adapted to correspond with the keyed profile ofthe inner surface of the cavity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a base isometric view of a support of one embodiment of thesupport;

FIG. 2 shows an exploded isometric view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an isometric view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a side perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows an exploded side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 shows a side perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows a base perspective view of the support of FIG. 1 in situ ina table;

FIG. 8 shows an exploded base perspective view of the support of FIG. 1in situ in a table;

FIG. 9 shows a base perspective view of the support of FIG. 1 in situ ina table.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the Figures, disclosed is a support for supporting anobject on a surface. The support 1 comprises a base 3 which is engagedwith the object 4, in this case a table leg, by means of an attachment,or extends therefrom. The base 3 may be attached with the object 4 byany method, such as adhesive, heat fixing, staples, pins, or indeed maybe integral with the object 4. The base 3 is composed of any moldable orshapeable material such as plastics, metals or other materials.

The base 3 includes a cavity 6 which extends upwardly into the base andis defined by a wall 7. The wall 7 has an inner surface 8. The innersurface 8 of the cavity 6 includes a keyed portion 12. The keyed portionis a profile surface such that the inner surface 8 includes one or moreindentations 13 that make up the profile surface. Alternatively, theinner surface 8 could include protrusions, ribs, or any other profilewhich is adapted to create a keyed interior portion of the cavity 6.

The support 1 further includes a foot 16 which is, in use, inserted intothe cavity 6 such that at least a portion of the foot 16 extends fromthe base 3 and therefore from the object 4. The foot 16 has an outerprofile 17 which is profiled to correspond with the keyed inner surface8 such that the foot 16 engages the profiled inner surface 8 of thecavity 6 when the foot 16 is inserted into the cavity 6. The foot 16 iscomposed of any multiple or shapeable material such as for exampleplastics, metals, rubber.

It can be seen that the foot 16 supports the object 4 above the ground.The foot 16 can be composed of a material to add additional durabilityto the object 4 and/or to limit noise when the object 4 is moved acrossthe floor or to limit damage when the object 4 is moved across thefloor.

In one embodiment, the object 4 includes a support system 9 comprisingsupport elements 112. The support system comprises in this embodimentincludes four support elements though other numbers of support elementsare also useable and beneficial. Each support element 112 comprises acylinder 18 and a piston 20. The cylinders 18 each have a fluidinlet/outlet 22 which is connected to the fluid inlet/outlet 22 of theother support element by tube 24. The cylinder 18 is filled with fluid.The amount of fluid that flows through the inlet/outlet 22 determinesthe movement of the pistons 20 in the cylinders 18. As each fluidinlet/outlet 22 is interconnected to another fluid inlet/outlet 22, anupward movement of one of the pistons in the respective cylinder movesthe fluid through the tube 24 and hence effects a downward movement ofthe other cylinder 20.

When the support is placed on surface, the weight of the structureeffects, for example, an upward movement of piston 20 in support element112′ and a downward movement of piston 20 in support element 112″. Themovements of the pistons therefore adjust the height of support elements112. Once both pistons have reached the adjustment positions, theloading associated with the structure 16 effects a pressure increasewithin the cylinders and a brake (not shown) secures the pistons 18 inthe cylinders 20 into a stationary position. As the adjustment and thesecuring of the pistons in the cylinders happens automatically, thesupport is self-adjusting.

In one embodiment, the support system also includes a valve arranged toreceive a hydraulic liquid. When the valve is open fluid can movebetween the supports.

The valve is adapted to restrict fluid transfer such that when the fluidon both sides of the valve is pressurised above a threshold value fluidflow through the valve is limited or prevented. In contrast when thefluid pressure on one side of the valve is below the threshold value,the valve is adapted to allow fluid transfer. When fluid transferoccurs, the pressure on both sides of the valve falls to below thepreset limit and the interconnected valves of each support element 112will open to allow fluid transfer.

This allows the support element 30 to self-adjust upon a change inloading. That is when any one leg is unloaded leg height adjustment isallowed by the opening of the valves and flow of fluid through the tube24.

In one embodiment, the foot 16 acts as part of/or in place of the piston20 and cylinder 18. In this form the support 1 includes a channel 21 forinsertion of the support system 9 into the support 1. The support system9 is inserted into the channel 21 and the feet 16 are inserted into thekeyed cavity 6 to engage with the support 1.

Alternatively, the support of the present disclosure is a stationaryfoot 16 positioned in a base 3 without a support element. In thisembodiment the foot 16 is not acting as a piston but instead is actingsimply as a stationary foot positioned in the object 4. The foot 16 isinserted into the cavity 6 and engages it owing to the profiled innersurface 8 of the cavity contacting the profiled outer surface of thefoot.

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of theinvention, except where the context requires otherwise due to expresslanguage or necessary implication, the word “comprise” or variationssuch as “comprises” or “comprising” is used in an inclusive sense, i.e.to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude thepresence or addition of further features in various embodiments of theinvention.

1. A support for supporting an object on a surface, the supportcomprising: a base, the base adapted to be attached with or extend fromthe object, the base having a cavity extending therein, the cavityhaving a keyed region; and, a foot, at least a portion of the foot beingadapted to be inserted into and engage with the keyed portion of thecavity.
 2. A support as defined in claim 1, wherein the keyed portion ofthe cavity comprises an inner surface having a keyed profile.
 3. Asupport as defined in claim 2, wherein the foot has an outer surface, atleast a portion of the outer surface having a profile which is adaptedto correspond with the keyed profile of the inner surface of the cavity.4. A support as defined in claim 1, wherein the object is an item offurniture.
 5. A support as defined in claim 1, wherein the object is atable.
 6. A support as defined in claim 5, wherein the support isadapted to be attached with each leg of the table.
 7. A support asdefined in claim 1, comprising a support element having a piston andcylinder arranged so that a loading associated with the structureeffects an adjustment of the support element, and wherein an increase inhydraulic pressure within the cylinder, effected by the loadingassociated with the structure, activates a braking means.
 8. A supportas defined in claim 7, wherein the piston is removable from the supportand can be replaced with a stationary cap not associated with thepiston.